Optimal Energy Management Configurable System

OPENMAN - 7061

Keywords home systems, energy management, electricity supply industry

Start Date: 01-JUL-92 / Duration: 36 months

[ contact / participants ]

Objectives

OPENMAN aims to develop a system to help utility companies plan the use of electricity for their domestic consumers within parameters designed to reduce overall consumption, especially at peak periods. The consortium believes that energy management will provide one of the important lead services attracting consumers to take up home systems.

It is intended to develop a system that envisions the Client Service from the instance the client comes to the utility to establish the supply contract characteristics, until the moment that energy consumption control and optimisation physically take place in his home.

For the customer, it offers on one side, a standard controller with different applications, and on the other side, a satisfactory comfort - convenience - economy tradeoff, processing the customer's comfort requirements, lifestyle and habits, and the home configuration.

For the electricity company, it offers both an enhanced servicing and the optimisation of the electric power supply system (in the long term) by applying a more selective control of the system's peaks.

For the manufacturer, it offers a competitive advantage through the product standardisation, increasing and pushing Home Systems market.

The main objective of the OPENMAN project is the Optimisation and Energy Management in the home, with different results:

• long-term optimisation of the electric supply system and smoothing of system peaks,
• reduction of electricity generation and supply investment,
• energy savings based on an improved efficiency of domestic electricity utilisation,
• energy management systems standardisation and promotion within the domestic sector.

Progress and Results

The project began with the analysis of basic models of consumer energy usage, evaluating consumption estimation for different appliances, home types and clients. After this first study, the development of two subsystems is being carried out:

• a consultancy and configuration tool, a configuring machine installed in the utilities sales offices, for generating the particular applications best suited for each consumer
• the controller, an energy management system which constitutes, in addition to the intelligent plugs the system to be installed in the home, supporting a world of different applications of energy management, for any user or requirement, and using the PLC network as communication media.

The last phase of the project includes some test sites to be performed in both Spain and France, in order to contrast the real functioning of the system, and to validate the results.

Exploitation

The industrialisation of the marketing and product activities is assured by the participation in the consortium of partners who are manufacturers and software companies on one side, and utilities interested in the expansion of energy management systems on the other side.

CONTACT POINT

Mr Francisco Prefaci Cruz
IBERDROLA SA
12, Isabel la Catolica
E - 46004 Valencia
tel: + 34 / 6-351-0722
fax: + 34 / 6-351-4775

Participants

IBERDROLA - E - C
EDF - F - P
SCHLUMBERGER INDUSTRIES - F - P
KEON SA - E - A

OPENMAN - 7061, December 1993

please address enquiries to the ESPRIT Information Desk

html version of synopsis by Nick Cook